An Early Draft of the New ‘Halloween’ Script Originally Opened With Dr. Loomis’ Death

The new Halloween works so well partially for how it honors and pays homage to the John Carpenter original, and erases everything in the franchise that follows. When you’ve got something great on your hands, like the 1978 movie, you don’t mess with it. But David Gordon Green almost did.

A while back, Green revealed he originally planned to open his new Halloween with a recreation of the 1978 film’s ending as a way to catch audiences up to speed. That alone sounds like a bad idea – they would’ve used body doubles and CG to recreate a young Laurie and Dr. Loomis. But a new report from Bloody Disgusting reveals Green and his co-writers, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, almost took things a step further: changing the ending of Carpenter’s Halloween to kill off Loomis.

In case you’re rusty on the original Halloween ending (watch it here), Donald Pleasance’s Dr. Loomis arrives just in time to save Laurie, shooting Michael Myers six times. Michael falls off the balcony, and when Loomis looks down at the lawn, he’s gone. However, according to an early draft of the script for the 2018 Halloween, as obtained by Bloody Disgusting, that classic ending would’ve been drastically altered. In the script, Loomis similarly goes into the house and fires one shot when Michael puts his mask back on. But then, Michael attacks and kills the doctor. The alleged script reads:

The Shape GRABS LOOMIS’ THROAT and throws him to the wall. Loomis drops the gun on the floor wheezing for breath. The Shape CHOKES Loomis, who struggles against the wall. 2. The Shape’s thumbs crush Loomis’ THROAT. He drops to the ground, DEAD. The Shape looks down at Loomis’ lifeless body.

Then Laurie becomes the one to take down Michael, picking up the gun to do what Loomis originally did, firing another shot that sends the Boogeyman off the balcony. She keeps firing, but realizes the gun is empty. Then the cops arrive and surround Michael.

Honestly, that sounds pretty awful in my opinion. Luckily, Carpenter agreed. He told Collider of the scene: “I thought, ‘That’s a mistake. The audience won’t like that. That’s a revision I don’t think we should do.’ So that was my one big contribution… I thought the fans are gonna get pissed off at that.” They totally would’ve been!

After all the sequels and reboots we’ve gotten, no one wants to see the original Halloween retconned anymore than it has been. And while I get how Green’s initial ending would’ve given Laurie the power to take down her attacker, it would’ve been a poor choice to open with and stripped the rest of the film of its self-empowerment message. Luckily, the new Halloween we got is a pretty dang good one.

Gallery – 20 References To the Old Halloween in the New Halloween (SPOILERS!):